It’s a Gemini thingMy secret worldOpposites attract yin and yangAngel devil lecher priestEach made more by the other’s beingHooded serpent fur and fangs writheIn deadly dance knowing no other wayNo mercy for second placeHungry pack snorting steam claws pawingFrozen ground the smell of fresh bloodCircling the wounded prey and thenThe killCruel nature’s wayBut one can’t exist without the otherIt’s a Gemini thing my secret worldAnd I think I like it

• Jim Carson is an architect and aspiring poet and composer living in Atlanta.

in a world of diminishing values, indistinct goals and flexible boundries it is becoming more difficult to find one single nightmare to commit to utterly in the mauve miasma of pseudo-nightmares and pastel hued marshmallow dreams. I want a proper nightmare throbbing with scarlet promise and tangerine risk. Some otherwhere I can escape to casting aside all my prejudices and petty expectations. Would that be heaven or h e l l

John Irvine

• John Irvine is a regular IS&T contributor and this should look like a martina glass – should

This is the vacuum of the daynight takes the lightand you with your superior tugging strengthtake the duvet awaywith your extra lung capacitybreathe all my airPlease turn down your heartbeatsyou are ruining my silenceupsetting my sleepand your dreams are infringing on my dreamsKeep to your own sideyou're giving me claustophobiayour elbows are weirdthey have four sharp bones on themyou're bruising my ribsyour snoring's out of tuneIt's upsetting the regularity of my breathingyou'll bring on my anginaWHAT NOW!No, I don't feel like it.I don't want a cheese sandwich.You have one if you want oneand don't keep asking me thingscan't you seeI'm asleep!

• Geoff Stevens is a regular contributor to IS&T – see R/H side-bar for details of his latest collection.